STABLE OPERATIONS. 87 



the back of the brush. These bony parts are easily hurt, 

 and after repeated blows the horse becomes suspicious and 

 troublesome. For thin-skinned irritable horses the brush 

 should be soft, or somewhat worn. 



Where the currycouib is used too much, the brush is used 

 too little. The expertness of a groom may be known by the 

 manner in which he applies the brush. An experienced 

 operator will do as much with a wisp of straw as a half-made 

 groom will do with the brush. He merely cleans, or at the 

 very most polishes the surface, and nothing but the surface. 

 The brush should penetrate the hair and clean the skin, and 

 to do this it must be applied with some vigor, and pass re- 

 peatedly over the same place. It is oftenest drawn along the 

 hair, but sometimes across and against it. To sink deeply, 

 it must fall flatly and with some force, and be drawn with 

 considerable pressure. 



When the horse is changing his coat, both the brush and 

 the currycomb should be used as little and lightly as pos- 

 sible. A damp whisp will keep him tolerably decent till the 

 new coat be fairly on, and it will not remove the old one 

 too fast. 



The ears and the legs are the parts most neglected by un- 

 trained grooms. They should be often inspected, and his 

 attention directed to them. White legs need to be often 

 washed with soap and water [and hand-rubbed], and all legs 

 that have little hair about them require a good deal of hand- 

 rubbing. White horses are the most difficult to keep, and in 

 the hands of a bad groom they are always yellow about the 

 hips and hocks. The dung and urine are allowed so often to 

 dry on the hair that at last it is dyed, and the other parts 

 are permitted to assume a dingy smoky hue, like unbleached 

 linen. 



Dressing Vicious Horses. — A few horses have an aversion 

 to the operations of the groom from the earliest period of 

 their domestication. In spite of the best care and manage- 

 ment, they continue to resist grooming with all the art and 

 force they can exert. This is particularly the case with 

 stallions, and many thorough-bred horses not doing much 

 work. But a great many horses are rendered vicious to 

 clean by the awkwardness, timidity, or folly of the keeper. 

 An awkward man gives the horse more pain than ought to 

 attend the operation ; a timid man allows the horse to master 

 him ; and a mischievous fellow is always learning him tricks, 



